As a loyal reader of Bay Area Bride Guide, you know that you can count on us to provide Bay Area brides with information about local vendors and locations, DIY tips, and the latest news about the Bay Area wedding industry.  In addition to all of those, we love offering you opportunities to take some time for yourself and relax!  For the next two weeks (July 5th-July 18^th), when you post a comment anywhere on the site, you are automatically entered to win a one night stay at the El Dorado Hotel in Sonoma and dinner for two at their fabulous restaurant, the El Dorado Kitchen.

The El Dorado Hotel and Kitchen in Sonoma, California:

The El Dorado Kitchen offers a variety of options for your wedding, with the numerous seating arrangements comfortably accommodating parties from 22 up to as many as 250 guests.  These options include the use of the Fireplace Lounge and Fig Tree Courtyard, the private dining room, the bridge table (running down the center of the restaurant), and a semi-private portion of the main dining room.  Event coordinator Angie Bettinelli will work with you to help you choose the best option for you and your guests, as well as coordinate between the hotel and your vendors to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Just off the hotel lobby is the fireplace lounge.  Aside from the main focus, the fireplace, there are numerous bookshelves covered with vases, behind which you can see a portion of the original building.

This cozy room can be made even cozier by closing it off from the rest of the lobby, and you also have the option of opening the doors to the Fig Tree Courtyard, which makes it perfect for rehearsal dinners, brunches, or small receptions.

Finally, and most importantly…the food is incredible!  The mouth-watering menus all look fantastic, making it nearly impossible to narrow down your choices.  Their dinner offerings include seared ahi tuna, truffle risotto, and red wine braised short ribs, all of which are served with a variety of side dishes.  Their brunch and lunch choices are equally impressive and include steamed mussels, chopped chicken salad, or a la carte brunch stations with fruit, pastries, and brioche bites.  Another great thing about the El Dorado Kitchen is that when possible, the food prepared at the El Dorado Kitchen is made from organic and locally grown produce, helping to green your wedding day.

The variety of options, wonderful food, and friendly staff, make the El Dorado Kitchen a great place to host a bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, wedding reception, wedding ceremony, or a post wedding brunch.

After partying the night away downstairs, take to your room for some relaxation.  The El Dorado Hotel is situated in the heart of Sonoma in an historic, 150 year old building.  The refurbished hotel is green certified and has all the luxuries of a modern day hotel, while maintaining its old-town feel.  The 27 guest rooms come fully-stocked with the typical TV, iPod clock, and mini-refrigerator, but the slanted ceilings, colorful walls, and the use of real keys all help keep its charm.  If you have your wedding at the hotel, you can work with Angie to reserve a block of rooms for yourself and your guests.

Enter to win a free night stay at the hotel and dinner for two so you can check it out for yourself!

Sonoma El Dorado Hotel and El Dorado Kitchen:

405 First Street West

Sonoma, California 95476

Angie Bettinelli, at  – 707-996-3030

Contest rules:

To enter you must post a comment on Bay Area Bride Guide between July 5th and July 18th.

There is no limit to the number of entries you can have, but if it is determined your entries were not legimitate, you will be disqualified.

A winner will be chosen at random on July 19th and announced on the site.

By Erin Frank

It’s a vicious cycle that occurs right before your wedding: The stress makes your skin break out, and the breakouts make you stressed.  It’s a common problem, and one that can’t be solved with a spritz of Windex, as infamously suggested in the popular flick, My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

To solve this classic complexion conflict, Bay Area Bride Guide turned to Soothe, a top spa in San Francisco that offers skincare, waxing, and massage. Dana Craft, Lead Esthetician at Soothe, offered up a pretty primer on looking your best on your wedding day.

Dana’s Wedding-Ready Skin Tips:

If you do get a lone pimple just before your big day here is the best and only way you should ever squeeze it—

Only squeeze if the pimple has visible whiteness (or pus). Put a warm washcloth on the area to bring any pus up to the surface of the skin.  Wrap your two pointer fingers in tissue to prevent skin breakage by providing a cushion between your nails and skin.  Gently push with both fingers up under the pimple.  Once it is extracted put a dab of spot treatment on, followed by a cold compress to help with any swelling that might incur.  Only extract if you have a few days for the skin to calm down.
Many thanks to Dana and Soothe for the skin-saving advice.  Brides-to-be: make your appointments with an esthetician now, and stay well rested and hydrated.  No squeezing the day of!  Repeat after me—a scabby bride is a crabby bride. Now get out there and be gorgeous!

So here’s where we’re at: we have agreed to our overall wedding vision, put together the stationery and invitations, looked at colors, and made arrangements for guests—amongst many things!  Now it’s time to look at how we are prepping for the actual wedding ceremony and spending time with those persons who are a part of our wedding ceremony.

We thought that the rehearsal and associated dinner would be a great opportunity for our two families and special friends to spend time together and get to know one another.  Especially given that our wedding is formal with black tie and evening gowns, we wanted a time that our families could enjoy each other’s company in a relaxed and informal environment.  This overriding theme aligned well with our focus and desire—from our vision—on making our wedding about our guests, as they are the people who got us this far.

We thought long and hard about where we would ultimately have our wedding ceremony, and we necessarily wanted a place nearby that would utilize the unique advantages of beautiful August weather in Northern California.  The selection of venue for our rehearsal dinner turned out to be quite simple!

Relaxed, informal, and outside in the context of good food and wine—that is what defines Caffe Riace in Palo Alto, CA.  This restaurant has a beautiful outside patio with a fountain, and the food is exceptional.  The care they provide in every detail—warm plates, personal service, knowing your name—parallels the care in every detail we put in our wedding.  How do we know this?  Well, Haney used to eat here all the time when he was at Stanford, but beyond that, he has gotten to know the family who owns the restaurant.  In fact, the youngest girl in the family is our flower girl!  Haney and the owner of this restaurant opened another restaurant together in 2003!

This Sicilian family puts their heart and soul into the food they serve.  Homemade gelato, sausages, and even the grappa are homegrown creations; the menu is filled with recipes by the matriarch of the family.  You would never know this restaurant existed were it not for the reputation.  They are not on a main road or near any points of interest—they sit in the middle of apartment complexes.  They are not advertised.  How have they been successful for over ten years with reasonable prices?  Word of mouth!

We are so pleased that the families and friends who are so important to us and a part of our ceremony get to enjoy a family restaurant with owners who are like our extended family!  And it’s great, too, that we can use the opportunity of our celebration to help our friends with some business in today’s economic environment!

Caffe Riace
www.cafferiace.com
200 Sheridan Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 328-0407

Find Caffe Riace on: Facebook and Yelp

I started the Jenny Craig program on June 4, and to date, I’ve lost 10 pounds! I’ve got 15 weeks and counting until our wedding on October 10. Woo hoo!

That's me jumping for joy!

This week, I started boot camp with KOI Fitness to up the ante. It’s not exactly a bride bootcamp program, and actually I’m glad it’s not so specific because it’s about overall fitness.

KOI offers a one week trial for free and then you pay for the remaining of the session (4 days a week, 6:00-7:00am, for 6 weeks). The first day (Monday), we did intervals of distance running and isometrics (like exploding frog leaps) and ab work. On Tuesday, we had a fitness testing (like high school PE days). I surprised myself by doing 25 push-ups, but was thoroughly disappointed to do ZERO sit-ups. (No cheating allowed, you had to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground and use your fingertips to touch your partners’ fingertips just above your knee cap).

Wednesday is an off day and this morning, was a “hill” day. This session is focused on running and week one of six is the baby step towards building our endurance. Boy, I was wheezing as if I had asthma after one jogging trip up a hill and back. Fortunately, the instructor was encouraging and not so much like Jillian on “Biggest Loser.” I need a push, but I literally was on the verge of tears as I realized I was so out of shape!

The other folks in my cohort have been doing the boot camp for at least one to two sessions, so I felt a little better. After all, if you start at the bottom, you can only go up, right?

At the end of the 6 weeks, I had better be able to do at least 15 sit-ups and jog without nearly fainting!

By Elizabeth Zachry

I told you all about Sabrina Wong the photographer back in February, and I am so excited to give you even more information about her fantastic homemade wedding albums!

I have heard that after the wedding is over, one of the most daunting tasks is putting together your wedding album.  It can take weeks, or even months, to sift through the hundreds of proofs sent over by your wedding photographer, choosing which ones to put in your album, and then waiting for the photographer to finalize everything.  Sabrina does not promise any miracles, but her albums take about a month to complete, and she is there every step of the way.  She helps you choose your photos, and then does the layout herself, using her expertise to fill the pages with the best photos and place them in the perfect order.  Before the pages are finalized, you get to walk through the layouts together and make sure everything is set up the way you want.

Sabrina makes the entire album herself, cutting the fabric for the cover, and every matte to suit your desired layout.  My favorite part about these albums is the customization.  I peppered Sabrina with questions about personalizing an album: Do your albums come in different sizes? Can you incorporate the ribbon from the bouquet? Would you be able to use some fabric from the tablecloth for the cover?  Is it possible to have the names and date stamped/embroidered on the cover? Do you ever use colored mattes?

I was secretly hoping to stump her on some of my requests, but Sabrina welcomed the challenges and said that one of her favorite parts about putting together albums is getting to do something new and different each time.  Her second favorite part? Seeing the finished product and knowing that she was able to help memorialize someone’s special day in such a unique way.

If a formal album is not your style, Sabrina also offers a digital option.  I flipped through a digitally printed accordion album done for a family photo shoot.  The pictures looked amazing, and the digital printing looked almost like traditional photos.  With a digital album, your options are nearly endless, which also gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of layout, colors, and editing.

Aside from weddings, both album types would be great presents for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, anniversaries, or milestone birthdays.

I loved both albums and know that when I get married she is going to be one of the first vendors I call!  Maybe, by then, I will have come up with an option I want that will stump her.  Do you have a special design you want to incorporate in your wedding album?  Can you stump Sabrina?

Sabrina Wong

http://www.sabrinawongphoto.com/

sabrina@sabrinawongphoto.com

By Lauren and Haney

What do ducks and weddings have in common? In Korean culture, ducks and weddings have a lot in common. In fact, wooden wedding ducks are part of the Paebaek traditional Korean wedding ceremony, and we have decided to embrace this tradition in a multitude of ways. We have done this by choosing a duck graphic for our stationary, and we are giving wooden Korean wedding ducks as guest favors. We are putting a twist on the tradition, however, and we are doing this to bridge cultures and explain the traditional symbolism.

It’s tradition for the bride and groom to receive the wedding ducks–not to give them. Our twist on tradition is to give the ducks to our guests as a way to bridge cultures. By giving a pair of wooden Korean wedding ducks as guest favors and having a duck graphic on our stationary, we have sparked a lot of curiosity.

The Korean wedding ducks are an old tradition, and in South Korea today many people know about this tradition, but it’s not always upheld like it was years ago. Traditionally the wedding ducks are passed down from one generation to the next, and they are given to the bride and groom as wedding gifts. During the Paebaek ceremony, the groom’s mother throws the duck, which the bride must try to catch with an apron that she is wearing as part of her traditional Korean wedding attire. According to tradition, if the bride catches the duck, the couple’s first child will be a boy. If she doesn’t catch the duck, their first child will be a girl. Also, the ducks symbolize three things: (1) peace, (2) many children, and (3) togetherness. When the couple brings the wooden wedding ducks home, they can display them one of two ways to display their moods. If the ducks are beak-to-beak, the couple is on good terms; if the ducks are tail-to-tail, the couple is on bad terms. This orientation can change; it’s really a comical display of the relationship that indicates that relationships have ups-and-downs. To ensure that people remember the story, we will include an explanation about this tradition in the reception program. Many share the Korean wedding duck tradition today, and we are happy to embrace this tradition.

It has been fun to put a twist on the tradition and to bridge cultures through iconography and guest gifts. Thanks for reading, quack!

By Elizabeth Zachry

If you do not know this already, I should tell you:  I am a dessert person, so I take my cake buying very seriously.  I love dessert, especially chocolate, and pretty much anything baked with butter and sugar.  That is why I was especially excited to check out the “Sweet and Savory” festival at Jack London Square in Oakland.  At first, I found the festival to be mostly hype, and then I tasted some red velvet cupcakes, and I was hooked…

After our initial meeting, and tasting her supreme red velvet cupcakes, I knew I had to sit down with Lisa, from Couture Cakes By Lisa, and find out more about the woman behind the cakes.  In high school, Lisa worked at Baskin Robbins, honing her cake decorating skills. However, those skills were sidelined as Lisa became a court reporter and started her own business.   Her cake decorating passion was renewed when she was stuck at home with a broken ankle.  Lisa spent a year recovering and, at the same time, refined her baking and decorating skills and took classes at Spun Sugar and Petit Fleur.  Since then, Lisa has headed down a new career path, which would not have been possible without her wonderful family (including her loving husband and daughter) and the help of Amy Fitzsimmons and Pat Peck, the pastry chef and owner of Bibiane Bakery.

Everything Lisa sells is completely homemade and designed.  She pulls her inspiration from renowned cake decorators, but is primarily inspired by her clients.  Lisa enjoys sitting down with new clients to help turn their ideas into tasty pieces of art.  Each cake is designed to everyone’s individual specifications, and Lisa spends her days designing, baking, decorating, and even delivering, every cake she works on.  I was not surprised to learn that Lisa placed third last month in the CCCSAS Annual Cake and Sugar Art Show, her first bake-off entry ever!

I am a chocolate lover, but I wonder…what if I were to marry someone who (gasp!) does not share my same love?  The easy answer is to order a cake with multiple tiers and flavors, but how much would that cost??  When ordered from Couture Cakes By Lisa there is no extra cost for additional flavors.  Couture Cakes pricing starts at $6 a serving for a wedding cake, but the prices vary on the size and specifications.  She also makes cakes for bridal showers, anniversaries, birthdays, and any type of gathering you can think of, so if you are looking for a one-stop bakeshop, this is definitely your place!

As an unmarried woman I have spent surprisingly little time thinking about my wedding, but as a dessert enthusiast, I have spent plenty of time dreaming about my cake.  I asked about the filling, frosting, and any combination of flavors and decorations I could think of, and Lisa’s answer was always the same “no problem.”  That is what makes her so great…she is very positive and enthusiastic, and loves to be challenged with new designs and flavors.  She told me the most rewarding thing about her new line of work is seeing the joy on people’s faces when the cakes are delivered and knowing that her cakes helped make people’s day’s even brighter.

You can find Couture Cakes in Oakland, as well as Pleasanton, and Lisa will deliver throughout the greater Bay Area.  You can find her online at http://www.couturecakesbylisa.com/ and http://www.bibianebakery.com/ or email Lisa at

Enjoy the cake (I know I sure did)!!

By Megan Peters

As a plus size bride, I certainly like my sweets.  So naturally I am happy to go to a bakery to test a few cakes out. This weekend my fiancé and I will be cake tasting together. I haven’t thought too much about it till now, I mean what all do you have to think about other than enjoy the taste of the cake right? Wrong. There is defiantly some preparation that goes into cake tasting for your wedding. In my case we have already picked out a bakery, through a recommendation. If this is isn’t your case and you want know the best way to go about choosing your cake/baker read further. The best advice I got about choosing a wedding cake was broken into these six steps.

1. First talk to a few of your friends who have recently gotten married and see what they have to say about their baker and if they would recommend their services to you. After you have been recommended a baker or found one through your own research narrow them down to the top three choices. Call and make an appointment with each baker and request to taste any cake flavors that you are particularly interested in. Gather pictures, and drawings of wedding cakes that you are interested in. Know the wedding cake budget and number of guests that will be invited.
2. It is important to have had a snack or meal before you do cake tasting as being very hungry can sway your opinion of cakes. Start tasting the lighter fluffier cakes first and move on to heavier and richer cakes last. The pastry chef often has a recommended order in which to taste the cakes in. It is important to taste the cakes, frosting, fillings and embellishments separately this will enable you to taste the true flavor of each item.
3. Now notice the differences and take note of the textures, is the frosting lumpy or smooth? Then note weather the cake was moist, dry, fluffy, sugary, and buttery? This is a good time to inquire about the ingredients. Are the fillings made with fresh fruit? Can they use organic ingredients upon request?
4. Try a few combinations, perhaps there are a few flavors you enjoy and the baker can possibly make a special combination for you or has a recommendation.  Think about what you and your groom enjoy the most, then what your guest will likely enjoy. As an option ask the baker if they can do different flavors for each tier.
5. This one is an important one: cleanse your palate as you taste cakes with milk or water. Do this in between each different cake tasting and that will ensure that you taste the proper flavors.
6. Take it slow and ask questions. Savor each bite and take note of flavors you liked. Ask the pastry chef about creating custom wedding cakes as well as any extra charges for certain types of cakes. Then inquire about all the details and ask to see their portfolio.

Aside from previous six steps mentioned above you should also know the cake language. Yes, there is a language. If you are currently sucked into cake making reality shows like I am you may not need this advice. If you don’t know what genoise, mouselline, or ganache is then don’t stop reading.  Here is a list of cake vocabulary to brush up on before you go into your tasting.

Fondant: An ultra smooth sugar icing that seamlessly drapes a cake. Its matte finish is an ideal canvas for appliques, royal-icing brocade work, or sugar flowers.

Buttercream: A buttery soft icing or filling that can be blended with anything from apricot puree to burnt caramel. Like fondant, it can be tinted to match your color scheme.

Genoise: A moist European sponge cake, less sweet than the American version. Usually flavored with syrup, this cake works best with a light filling and icing, such as whipped cream.

Ganache: A rich frosting or filling, created by the Swiss, that combines chocolate and heavy cream. Ganaches don’t usually hold up well in humid weather.

Mouselline: An icing or filling enriched with whipped cream for a light, smooth texture. You could have a mousseline buttercream, for instance, flavored with chocolate or fruit.

Marzipan: A paste made of ground almonds, used for edible cake decorations in such shapes as flowers or fruit. Some bakers use a thin layer of marzipan as a filling or to cover a cake.

Creme Anglaise: A smooth custard, sometimes placed under slices of cake. It can be flavored with Grand Marnier, chocolate, or pistachios, giving it a beautiful pale-green hue.

Are you craving cake yet? I am.  I will be sure to follow up with you all on what some of our final cake decisions are. I have step one down plus my cake language, now only five more steps to go till the cake of my dreams, oh wait I mean “our” dreams. I got to get use to that.

By Lauren and Haney

Congratulations on making it to the wedding invitation stage of your planning. It may sound silly to say “congratulations,” but if you’ve arrived at this stage you have already figure out your date/s, time/s, venue/s, financials, signed contract/s and your wedding theme is in order. All of these decisions help you to design the look and feel, as well as the invitation text. It’s a good feeling to plug this information into place.

There are two parts to your invitations: the text and the design. We advise focusing on the text first, because the formality of the text impacts the overall design execution. Our text tips are to do the following:

• Fact check the text order and language formality. This is especially important if you want to keep a formal tone. The wording and order of the invitation can give away a lot of information: families’ roles, religion, finances (i.e., who is hosting), parent/s relationship status, cultural traditions and the tone.
• Check online invitation wording sites to help you script the text and adapt to your situation. It’s useful to check these resources and to make sure to include all of the necessary information (date, time, location, venue, RSVP, dress code, names etc.) is included.

Part two is all about the design or the look and feel of the invitation. The tone of the invitation helps get your guests excited about the event. The tone is communicated through the typeface, paper, envelope, ink, color, icons/ images and any extras you choose to add (invitation tissue, ribbon, charms, etc.).  Your invitation should set a tone and reflect your overall theme.

Our last two cents…

• Theme Consistency: match the tone of the language with the color theme, envelopes, and paper;
• Price: To mitigate costs, consider making your own invitations, or go green and send out e-invites. Also, if your invitation is an unusual shape or size, make sure to check on extra postage fees.
• Language: Make sure all of the information and spelling is correct. If your invitation is in more than one language, makes sure the text translates correctly.
• Stationery: Consider the same invitation theme for other stationery and communication items (programs, thank you cards, website, etc.).

Voila! Your invitations will be ready in no time. Just go with your plan and plug in the information and theme. You’ll be glad to see your invitations addressed and in the mail! Off to the next thing…